Mandatory loyalty oaths for high school students, or Those Arizona Republicans at it again... - Think Atheist2016-12-09T17:49:46Zhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/forum/topics/mandatory-loyalty-oaths-for-high-school-students-or-those-arizona?commentId=1982180%3AComment%3A1252418&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI have a lot of Pagan friends…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-01-31:1982180:Comment:12541792013-01-31T08:34:47.915ZSarah Jane Hallhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/SarahJaneHall
<p>I have a lot of Pagan friends most of them would just throw an s on the end of God and be done with it. I personally probably would just abstain from saying that part but you know make my lips move. </p>
<p>I have a lot of Pagan friends most of them would just throw an s on the end of God and be done with it. I personally probably would just abstain from saying that part but you know make my lips move. </p> I would be willing, with abou…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-01-28:1982180:Comment:12527492013-01-28T07:23:25.584ZJames Coxhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/JamesCox
<p>I would be willing, with about a 1000 of my closest friends, to take this oath, after extensive legal advise of course:</p>
<p>"I of generally sound mind and functional intelligence, promise, along with my peers and fellow citizens, to never again offer any intellectual suspect Republican or Democratic candidate, my vote, support, or signature gathering, if they continue to pursue laws, ordinances, or mandates, that obviously would fail on constitutional grounds, or create second class, and…</p>
<p>I would be willing, with about a 1000 of my closest friends, to take this oath, after extensive legal advise of course:</p>
<p>"I of generally sound mind and functional intelligence, promise, along with my peers and fellow citizens, to never again offer any intellectual suspect Republican or Democratic candidate, my vote, support, or signature gathering, if they continue to pursue laws, ordinances, or mandates, that obviously would fail on constitutional grounds, or create second class, and marginalize any members of the electoret." </p> @Dale I'm sure that's no re…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-01-27:1982180:Comment:12524822013-01-27T21:05:30.861ZStregahttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/MzStrega
<p>@Dale I'm sure that's no reflection on you. (<em>but I have my fingers crossed just in case</em>)</p>
<p>@Dale I'm sure that's no reflection on you. (<em>but I have my fingers crossed just in case</em>)</p> My ex-wife, a member of an…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-01-27:1982180:Comment:12526982013-01-27T20:24:48.222ZDale Headleyhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/DaleHeadley
<p> My ex-wife, a member of an ethnic minority, lives in Arizona, BY CHOICE! How ironic is that?</p>
<p> My ex-wife, a member of an ethnic minority, lives in Arizona, BY CHOICE! How ironic is that?</p> You're spot on, but that's ju…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-01-27:1982180:Comment:12526282013-01-27T18:06:10.405ZPhillip Striplinghttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/PhillipStripling
<p>You're spot on, but that's just the thing: because the Republicans see themselves losing due to this shift, they're actively considering and endorsing some major changes to the way states award Electoral College votes. If swing states like VA, PA, WI, and OH go the way of Maine and Nebraska, which award Electoral College votes by the winners of congressional district, then we could have a problem with either a "smart liar" or an "honest dingbat" because either could easily be sent to the…</p>
<p>You're spot on, but that's just the thing: because the Republicans see themselves losing due to this shift, they're actively considering and endorsing some major changes to the way states award Electoral College votes. If swing states like VA, PA, WI, and OH go the way of Maine and Nebraska, which award Electoral College votes by the winners of congressional district, then we could have a problem with either a "smart liar" or an "honest dingbat" because either could easily be sent to the White House despite a loss of the popular, increasingly progressive, vote. VA just drafted such a state bill, but at least Bob McDonnell, VA's Republican governor, along with a couple other key state Republicans, seems opposed to the idea. One of the most cogently written pieces I've seen on the flaws in VA's recent proposal to award Electoral College votes this way is at Real Clear Politics:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/01/25/virginias_ill-considered_electoral_college_idea_116802.html">http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/01/25/virginias_ill-...</a></p>
<p>Every party gerrymanders, every politician abuses his or her authority, yet there's something particularly insidious about VA's Republicans' latest actions. Your points are well taken about the progressive shift of the electorate--makes me think of Dawkins' frequent references to the evolving moral <i>zeitgeist</i> of different periods of history--but, just as an animal is often most unpredictably dangerous after it's been wounded, the more furtive and cynical Republicans at the state level, cheered by Reince Priebus at the national level, are poised to strike back at their recent losses and looming decline by lashing out at our voting system itself. Just look at their efforts to restrict early voting and military voting, to enact draconian voter ID laws, their closing of polling places in poor and minority areas, etc.</p>
<p>I kind of wish AZ's loyalty oath were the least of our concerns!</p>
<p> </p> Such a waste of a B.S. bill t…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-01-27:1982180:Comment:12523742013-01-27T08:30:21.247ZLouishttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/LonnieF
<p>Such a waste of a B.S. bill that doesn't help the students there in any way. </p>
<p>Such a waste of a B.S. bill that doesn't help the students there in any way. </p> WOW this is some wild ass BUL…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-01-27:1982180:Comment:12525012013-01-27T05:43:11.932ZSarah Jane Hallhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/SarahJaneHall
<p>WOW this is some wild ass BULL SHIT right there</p>
<p></p>
<p>WOW this is some wild ass BULL SHIT right there</p>
<p></p> Gallup, you make several good…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-01-27:1982180:Comment:12523622013-01-27T04:24:15.310ZPhillip Striplinghttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/PhillipStripling
Gallup, you make several good points. I just hope that by November of 2016, the low information US electorate doesn't react to what many perceive as Obama's "liberal" 8 years by electing a (neo)conservative dingbat whose Supreme Court and lower court picks make Antonin Scalia look like Rachel Maddow.
Gallup, you make several good points. I just hope that by November of 2016, the low information US electorate doesn't react to what many perceive as Obama's "liberal" 8 years by electing a (neo)conservative dingbat whose Supreme Court and lower court picks make Antonin Scalia look like Rachel Maddow. My high school principal, (19…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-01-27:1982180:Comment:12523342013-01-27T00:23:58.382ZDoug Reardonhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/DougReardon
<p>My high school principal, (1969) called me to the office a few weeks before graduation to tell me that "no atheist, communist, was gonna graduate from his school!" (I was not then, nor have I ever been a member of the communist party.) So, I contacted the ACLU who wrote him a nice letter after which he was most supportive of my graduating</p>
<p>My high school principal, (1969) called me to the office a few weeks before graduation to tell me that "no atheist, communist, was gonna graduate from his school!" (I was not then, nor have I ever been a member of the communist party.) So, I contacted the ACLU who wrote him a nice letter after which he was most supportive of my graduating</p> Yes, I'd welcome another chan…tag:www.thinkatheist.com,2013-01-26:1982180:Comment:12520672013-01-26T18:16:51.491ZClaire Couchhttp://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/ClaireCouch
<p>Yes, I'd welcome another chance to see a challenge, but not at the expense of lots of students having their diplomas withheld for the several years such a process usually takes.</p>
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<p>I'm so ashamed of my state of residence.... All our local sports teams suck, but they look like champions compared to our politicians. (Well, not out hockey team, who've been ownerless for years).</p>
<p>Yes, I'd welcome another chance to see a challenge, but not at the expense of lots of students having their diplomas withheld for the several years such a process usually takes.</p>
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<p>I'm so ashamed of my state of residence.... All our local sports teams suck, but they look like champions compared to our politicians. (Well, not out hockey team, who've been ownerless for years).</p>